"(Eliot, 850) She cannot help but comply because she had been humiliated and wounded, and she feels morally guilty. Had Rosamond acted in abidance of Aristotle's Ethics, she would have received Dorothea but she would have done so as a result of her own determination. A person is good if he or she is able to deliberate virtuously, according to the context and the circumstances of a certain situation. Rosamond on the contrary feels compelled to act the way she does, simply because she is in a state of psychological bafflement but she does not actually see the truth of the situation and neither is she able to act virtuously. She merely receives the good Dorothea tensely, endeavoring to guess the reason of her visit. Catharine's conversion to her own traditional religion is determined by a very different motivation. She determines to become faithful to her own culture because she feels that she is closer to the old traditions than to the religion she had acquired through early conversion. She thus asks the elders of her village to give her a ceremonial whipping which, according to the Indian tradition, would release and purify her. After she performs this ritual, she feels at peace with herself and with her word: "Those old people turned back on the path they had come and for a while their hearts were lightened. The old lady, with the red stripes of the whip on her back, slept without dreaming."(McNickle, 73) Thus, the old woman makes her decision impelled by her need to regain her cultural identity and feel close to her own people. She had been respected in the village before as well, simply because she observed the rites of the Christian religion and at the same time performed her duties towards her old way of life: "[...] She is pleased with her duties in the way that only an old art or an old way of life, long disused, can please the hand and heart returning to it."(McNickle, 75)...
She acts consciously and makes a rational choice between the two religions, deciding to be faithful to that which appealed to her more and reinforced her identity. Thus, she acts in conformity to Aristotle's Ethics in so much as she bases her decision on a good intention and a virtuous choice.
Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle said, "The good for man is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, or if there are more kinds of virtue than one, in accordance with the best and most perfect kind" (). According to Aristotle and his Nicomachean ethics, there are two kinds of virtue: intellectual and moral. Intellectual virtues are learned by instruction and moral virtues are learned by practice. According to his theory,
Happiness in Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" According to the definition of human happiness in Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" the goal of human life ought to be the seeking of happiness, when pursuing all things. This may be contrasted with merely living for the sake of momentary bodily, social, or even personally gratifying pleasure. True, pleasure is often mistaken for happiness. But unlike pleasure, happiness is a moral obligation, shared by all peoples, rather
Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explains his theory of virtue and how to become virtuous. The main premise of Aristotle's theory of virtue rests upon the ideal of the "highest good" (Nic. Ethics I 2). Aristotle defines this as happiness, or living well. After this, Aristotle goes on to determine what exactly it means to "live well." He begins this process by stating what does not constitute living well. At first
If this was the case, and this transformation of reasoning did occur, then that person would be truly virtuous. There are many strengths to Aristotle's argument, as well. One of the main strengths is the discussion of the two kinds of virtue - the kind that comes from habit, and the kind that comes from learning. This would work to demonstrate why some people change so much as they grow
Acting in accordance with virtuous principles is a key to attaining happiness. In Book Three of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle explains the difference between voluntary and involuntary action as well as total passivity. In the first chapter of the book, the philosopher explains the importance of free will and taking action in determining ethical behavior. Aristotle concludes that the only truly ethical acts are those that are chosen by
These [bad effects of pleasure and pain] are the reason why people actually define the virtues as ways of being unaffected and undisturbed [by pleasures and pains]" (1104b21-25) It is not imperative to remain indifferent or unaffected by both pleasure and pain to be virtuous, it is only essential that we have the right feelings of pleasure and pain at the right time. Therefore, he goes on defining virtue as
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